Will concentrate on mobile devices and tablets instead
Shocking (or not so shocking) news: Sony has announced that it will sell off its VAIO computer business to Japan Industrial Partners, who will now take control of the brand for an undisclosed fee. This means that Sony will now cease to plan, design and develop PC products, and will instead focus on creating mobile devices like phones and tablets.
The move comes as more and more people begin to shy away from PCs, whose market share has continuously been in a free fall dive – IDC reported in April of 2013 that PC shipments posted the steepest ever decline in a single quarter ( -13.9% in 1Q13). While the decline has relatively been softer in the recent months ( -5.6% in 4Q13), it only shows that the reign of the PC long since passed. In our opinion, this is a good move for Sony, as it allows them to concentrate on their mobile business, a market segment that has been growing at a furious rate in the past few years.
UPDATE: We reached out to Sony Philippines to find out what will happen to customers that bought VAIO notebooks here. According to them, they will retain and support all warranty, after sales, software updates and other concerns of current VAIO users in accordance with Philippine laws & regulations. They also said that they will still release their full Spring 2014 line-up in March, and will sell the products until ALL stocks are sold in the stores of their dealers.
